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26 May 2000

Netia 1 granted Polish domestic long distance voice licence


WARSAW, Poland - May 26, 2000 - Netia Holdings SA (Nasdaq: NTIA), Poland's largest alternative telecommunications services provider, today announced that the Polish Ministry of Communications has issued the Netia 1 consortium a license to provide domestic long distance (DLD) voice services throughout Poland. The license is effective as of today.

The DLD license will further strengthen Netia's position as Poland's leading national alternative provider of telecom services, enabling the company to bundle domestic long-distance voice telephony with its existing local fixed line services as well as its national IP platform-based and data transmission services. Netia expects to start offering customers DLD service in the third quarter of 2000.

The Netia 1 consortium, formed in November 1999 to participate in the DLD tender process, comprises leading Polish financial institutions including BRE Bank S.A. (22%) and PKO B.P. (22%), Warsaw electric utility STOEN S.A. (7%), and Netia's strategic partner Telia AB, the Swedish national telecommunications operator (11%). The remaining 38% is held by several Netia entities. The consortium agreement provides for an automatic exchange of equity interests in Netia 1 for shares of Netia Holdings upon the adoption of the new Polish Telecommunications Act and lifting of foreign ownership restrictions on telecommunications operators in Poland.

 

NETIA HOLDINGS is the largest alternative fixed?line telecommunications operator in Poland. In March 2000, Netia won the tender for the Warsaw voice telephony license. Including Warsaw, Netia has 24 licenses for local telecommunications services in territories covering some 15 million people or approximately 40% of the Polish population. The Company's existing local telephone license territories cover five of the country's ten largest urban areas including Krakow, Poznan, Gdansk, Lublin, Katowice and several territories surrounding the city of Warsaw. Netia has also secured the benefit of a nationwide data and IP license to provide data transmission and Internet?based services.